Hoppock Says Evergy Made Decision to Restore Oakdale Park Power Ahead of River Festival

Salina Mayor Mike Hoppock said Evergy, not the City of Salina, made the decision to restore power to Oakdale Park ahead of the Smoky Hill River Festival after the June 8 storm left parts of the community without electricity.

Hoppock addressed the issue during a public meeting after questions circulated from residents about why Oakdale Park had power while some homes and other properties remained without electricity.

According to Hoppock, he contacted an Evergy regional representative Thursday morning after hearing concerns from the public.

“We had started getting some concerns from citizens of why Oakdale Park was up and running, and why some property, some citizens didn’t have electricity,” Hoppock said.

Hoppock said he asked the representative to explain how the restoration decision happened because the public was asking questions.

According to Hoppock, the Evergy representative explained that power restoration depends on the structure of the electrical system, including transmission lines, primary lines, and laterals that serve different areas.

Hoppock said the representative told him one of Evergy’s primary lines ran near Oakdale Park. Once that primary line was restored, getting Oakdale Park connected was easier.

“He said once they got that up, hooking up to Oakdale Park was easy,” Hoppock said.

Hoppock said the representative also told him Evergy knew the Smoky Hill River Festival was coming and considered it a significant event for Salina.

According to Hoppock, Evergy made the decision to leave one crew at Oakdale Park. He said that included one truck with two workers.

Hoppock said he noted to the representative that one truck and two workers did not sound like a large use of resources compared to the number of workers Evergy had in the area. Hoppock said the representative responded that Evergy had already surpassed 625 workers involved in the restoration effort.

“So they felt like it was in their judgment that it was something they wanted to do,” Hoppock said.

Hoppock said he wanted the public to know the city did not request that Oakdale Park receive priority.

“I can vouch for the fact that I did not call Evergy and ask for that,” Hoppock said. “I’ve talked to the city manager. He did not call and ask for that. So that was a decision that Evergy made.”

The explanation came after storm recovery efforts created public debate over priorities, especially as residents, businesses, parks, and public facilities dealt with damage and outages following the June 8 storm.

Hoppock also thanked volunteers who helped after the storm, including people assisting at the cemetery and others helping residents with laundry and other needs.

“It’s amazing what can happen when something like this happens to a community,” Hoppock said.

He also said he was grateful the storm did not result in serious injuries or deaths.

City Manager Jacob Wood also discussed the city’s process for potential FEMA assistance. Wood said the process begins with a disaster declaration by the county, usually first done verbally once officials know there is a major issue. A more formal county disaster declaration is then completed and sent to the state. The state must also issue a disaster declaration.

From there, Wood said the city and other agencies track costs tied to the disaster. That can include city, county, and volunteer efforts.

Wood said FEMA generally does not reimburse regular employee hours but may consider overtime, rented equipment, and other qualifying expenses.

The city manager also described behind-the-scenes utility work that took place after the storm. Wood said the city’s water plant was down for about 12 hours, and lift stations across the community also lost power.

Wood said crews worked 16-hour shifts running generators across town to keep wastewater moving through the system. Without that work, he said, sewage could have backed up into homes.

“If you don’t move the sewage from one lift station to another, then we’ll back up into people’s basements,” Wood said.

Wood said crews began that work shortly after the storm started and continued moving generators around the city to keep the system operating.

He said the city did not have sewage backups or major issues from that part of the storm response.

The comments provided additional detail on how power restoration, storm cleanup, utility protection, and potential reimbursement efforts were handled following one of Salina’s most disruptive storm events in recent years.